He Will Never Leave

He will never leave His own,
A promise as sure as the seasons.
Though there may be reasons
He seems to be absent,
Those are times to be valued
For they draw His own more close to Him,
Challenging our heart's priorities,
Continuing to cleanse our hearts of residual sin
So He may dwell more freely within.
No, He never leaves His own,
Sending His Spirit as guarantee
He will return for you and me.
How sweet the promises He has made,
From their fulfillment I'll never be swayed,
Even if their timing isn't what I wish for,
He wills what He wills in the fullness of time--
Time He determines with perfection.

All Which Changes

All which changes when He comes, all which changes when He calls,
All which changes:
Temporal changed to eternal;
New earth;
New heavens;
New relationships;
All things new thanks to
Him in whom we live and move and have our beings,
Thanks to Him who is eternally perfect already
And will perfect us
At that Day,
Forever Day,
And He will be with His people forever
In ways we can only barely contemplate now,
Seeing through that dark glass;
Seeing dimly because of the sin cataracts over our spiritual eyes;
But then, O then,
Face to face with Him,
Seeing as now we are seen.
How glorious that will be!
Holy worship, righteous service, eternal strength, perfect presence, finally sinless.

Before the Storms Roll In

Before the storms roll in, we check the circumstances we face in them. That's for storms we can see, storms that potentially shake the windows and the foundations.

But we need to be prepared for other kinds of storms, too, those that can rattle our lives.

First, there is the matter of our foundation. In Matthew 7, Jesus compares two builders thus: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and it fell--and great was the fall" (Matt. 7:24-27; NAS).

Second, there is the matter of our windows, or eyes. In Matthew 6 Jesus stated this: "The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?" (Matt. 6:22-23; NAS). How clear is our spiritual sight?

Third, there is the promise of God we find in Psalm 46: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present hold in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; thought its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah" (Ps. 46:1-3). For those whose trust is in the Lord, whatever form storms take, He is with them in the storm.

Wrath

Everyone is all about "God is love"; some are okay with God as joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

We are all glad to experience joy and peace, admit to needing more patience, are all glad when someone is kind or good or faithful or gentle, or shows self-control--what might be called the "positive attributes" of God.

We are not on board with God as holy, or God as judge, or God showing wrath.

Those are the Old Testament qualities of God, right? Wrong.

Look at the cross where God poured out His righteous wrath on

The one Man who deserved none of it;

The one Man who lived a fully righteous life;

The one Man who bore that wrath, not for His sins but

For the sins of those chosen from before the foundation--

Chosen

To be given a righteousness not deserved,

To be given a grace not earned,

To be given a life not otherwise possible.

Look at the cross where the One truly righteous laid down His life for

The unrighteous, the obedient for the rebellious, the holy for the ungodly.

Look at the cross, empty of the dead;

Look at the tomb, empty of the risen;

Look to the one Lord of life who bore such wrath.